Bruce Mitchell

Mitchell was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1961 and has lived in North Carolina since 2003. He was trained as a draftsman at a trade school, where he learned the fundamentals of drawing. Most of the work he does now is representational, done by hand (by himself, obviously) using oil paint and brushes in a realistic style.

"My representational paintings are about living in a mostly human-built environment. They are part of an ongoing dialogue about constant change in our world and our relationships with it. I choose the medium of oil painting for its inherent simplicity, lasting physical presence, and distinct individuality.

I invest these paintings with allusions and metaphors, some more subtle than others. Each has a narrative element as well, which may or may not be readily apparent. I approach a painting as a kind of one-frame movie, or one-page story, or perhaps a poem.

I seek to create paintings capable of evoking an emotional response. Their physical properties and less tangible aspects together support that aim."